In less than a year, the price of Bitcoin has increased from close to zero to nearly $9 as I write this (see below), prompting the digerati to question, only half-jokingly, if Bitcoin prices are in a “bubble” – see this post by economist Tyler Cowen for a typical example. For the underlying conventional wisdom is that use of Bitcoin is highly unlikely ever to expand beyond a few niche markets – e.g., idealistic hackers, online gamblers, and miscellaneous underground characters.